Agility 3 fail

[Arrakis+9]

So i just got my 2x Agility 3 drives from OCZ RMA after sending back 2 dead Vertex 2 drives. I was excited and immediately ripped everything from the bubble packaging noticed one drive had a "sticker stain" thought to myself this thing better not be referb and repack drive. after some hesitation i went ahead and flashed the latest frimware on the drives and got right to installing windows. the first install froze at installing updates, thought to myself must be a weird windows software anomaly and promptly reset the system and installed windows again, second times the charm. got all the drivers and software installed so that i could start "rebuilding" windows the way i like it to be. started up some music on pandora and noticed the system was stuttering. figured windows must be installing updates no big deal and resume working. this happens 2 more times then i get an F4 blue screen think to myself "shit i got a bad drive out of the box" sure enough system restarted and the raid manager comes back saying drive 1 "error occurred" and proceeded to to boot back into windows weirdly enough. i was greeted by this when i opened up the RST manager:



As of right now i have pandora up and running and has not been stuttering at all since the reboot and im typing this message as we speak on the affected computer everything seems fine.


so heres the question - do i reset to normal be on my way and hope for the best or contact OCZ AGAIN ?


EDIT: i reset the drive to normal - reset the system and ran check disk on the array with /r - half way through the system blue screened again, reset and the RST manager said "Error occurred"
Guess that answeres that question, just an FYI it was the strange looking "referb" drive that was having the issues

I've already got an RMA sent back to OCZ, just waiting on a response now

[Yo_Wattup]

Thanks for the info.

[Arrakis+9]

Some more pictures for documentation:

Normal looking packaging




The left drive bottom surface feels like its been sanded recently while the drive to the right looks and feels "correct" the black nickel bursh is smooth to the touch



Sticker Stain



Top of the drive scrached/scuffed out of the box

[Zen_]

I was honestly about 1 click away from ordering one of those when newegg had the 120GB for $75 after a promo code and MIR...glad I went with the Samsung instead!

They changed their ways quite a bit, but part of me will always think of OCZ as the total shyster operation they were in the early 2000's.

[Arrakis+9]

OCZ's response :

Comment: Hi Rick,

Thanks for the information and I do apologize the inconvenience. I'm honestly not sure how the drives arrive to the customers, that issue is more of less handled from our RMA Department and our shipping department and usually depends on product inventory at the time the order was created. If one of the drives is indeed defective, even as a replacement.. we can of course replace the unit again and create you a new RMA# and I can put in the notes that you're requesting a new replacement part, however like I had mentioned...generally that depends on product availability.

Thanks,

Daniel

EDIT: it seems that my request is being honored for an advanced RMA and i'll let you know if they actually do send me a shipping label to send the bad drive back

Comment: Hi Rick,

I do apologize for the issues you’ve had with your OCZ product. Your Trouble Ticket has been approved for RMA processing. I'll be forwarding your information over to our RMA team. They will issue your RMA number and shipping instructions. Should you have any questions in regards to your RMA# or RMA information please contact our RMA Department by adding a comment to the Trouble Ticket selecting the “add a comment” link below. I've also put in a request to provide you with a prepaid shipping label to return the defective drive to our RMA facility and save you on shipping costs for the inconvenience.

Standard policy is for OCZ to receive your defective drive first and then we’ll ship your replacement drive to you. However, we may have the advanced replacement option may be available for you, in which the RMA department would be in contact with your via email to take down your credit card information. You would be charged the full amount of the drive and the drive would be shipped to you, once we receive the defective drive at our RMA facility the amount would be credited back to you. The advanced replacement is dependent upon product inventory and customer location. Our RMA team would have further information on this option for you if this is something that seems like a good option for you. It may take 10-15 Business days after receiving the drive for a refund to reflect on your account.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Arrakis+9]

Just an update, ocz paid to ship my defective drive back and is shipping me a new drive with 2day air shipping.

[FreedomEclipse]

well im glad to see OCZ CC being a lot more straight forward then other aftermarket support.

However, I have always been under the impression that the Agility 3 drives had a higher fail rate then the other drives they sell.

the price is good though, then 256GB ones are currently priced so competitively and theres no beating them for price per GB. Reliability is an important thing however and thats something im willing to pay a little extra for. so the samsung or Intel SSDs get my vote

[Aquinus]

You didn't have Intel's Patrol Read enabled did you? I find that it will make my drives randomly bump out and degrade my RAID over the course of a couple days. I'm not sure if its an option on RST, since I have an X79 chipset it's a C600 integrated controller that uses RSTe (if that really means much of anything.)

[Raw]

[QUOTE=Arrakis+9;2678696]Some more pictures for documentation:

Normal looking packaging
Sticker Stain

http://img.techpowerup.org/120718/DSCN0625.jpg/QUOTE]

I'm not rubbing salt into your wounds, I feel for you. I have had similar experiences and nothing makes me madder than buying something new that isn't BRAND new That sticker stain makes me really wonder. I hope it works out for you.

That is exactly why I went with Intel when I recently bought a SSD. Some people gave me a hard time because of the pricing and I just laughed and shook my head. I don't think Intel is the only one that makes first class product, but they are certainly one of the best.
I did a lot of work for Intel in manufacturing. I personally know of their very stringent and first class quality methods and procedures in their manufacturing process.
Pricing for peace of mind is a good trade off for me. You would never catch Intel doing something like that, selling used as new, not in a million years.
I also have an OCZ Agility3 SSD and it's been a problem since I bought it, it BSODs every now and then on me and I just don't need the aggravation, especially with a hard drive. They are just too important of an item in a system.
I'm not even using it anymore, it's been relagated to one of my lesser machines.